What is a brand ambassadorship?
Brand ambassadorships are established, lasting partnerships between a social media personality and a brand. Rather than simply supplying an influencer with your products, your brand influencer ambassadors are active users or even co-creators of these products. Their personal brand becomes intrinsically linked with your brand, going far beyond endorsement and advertisement and into the powerful realm of identity fusion.
This blog explores some of the most iconic brand ambassadorships from recent years, uncovering how brands identified and built a relationship with certain celebrities or influencers, creating brand partnerships that are far greater than the sum of their parts.
In doing so, you’ll learn why brand ambassadorships can be so effective, what you need to take into consideration when planning your own, and how you can derive maximum value from building collaborations that ‘do more’.
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How have brand ambassadorships evolved?
Brand ambassador partnerships have long been the domain of high-profile celebrities, often in the form of TV, magazine, or billboard ads and the like. With the rise of social media and the influencer, this – like everything else – is changing.
While there’s still no shortage of celebrity ambassadors, new forms of partnership are emerging. With research indicating that Gen Z consumers “trust influencers more than celebrities”, and more influencer-celebrity personalities emerging organically from platforms like TikTok, brands are recognizing the opportunity to deepen influencer relationships.
Whereas influencer marketing normally involves fleeting engagement and a lack of brand exclusivity, investing more in focused, lasting partnerships can unlock outsized benefits. Influencer ambassadors can be just as creative, personable and influential as celebrity ambassadors, but often come with lower costs. Crucially, they also give brands the opportunity to become exclusive partners of up-and-comers at the critical moments of their rise to fame – resulting in excellent ROI and shared growth for brand and ambassador alike.
Iconic brand ambassador examples
Molly-Mae x Pretty Little Thing
Molly-Mae’s partnership with Pretty Little Thing (PLT) is a shining example of how ambassadors can go ‘above and beyond’ in their contribution to brand strategy.
A great ambassador does more than endorse products – they fuse with a brand, becoming part of its fabric and springing to mind in tandem with that company or range.
In Molly-Mae’s partnership with Pretty Little Thing, she doesn’t just put her name on personal collections – she’s been heavily involved in the design and promotion process for 5 years. She took this even further in 2021, becoming the Creative Director for the company (until 2024, when she stepped down to focus on her children).
Since her origin as a Love Island star, Molly-Mae has built a business empire through a range of fashion deals and brand collaborations, even launching her own fake tan brand. She released her first collection with PLT in 2019. By signing her as Creative Director 2021, Pretty Little Thing wisely deepened their relationship with the star, who had been reliably contributing to their social media growth and sales figures at that point. They secured more of her time and energy – but also guarded against the possibility of other brands poaching her.
Pretty Little Thing demonstrates the value of commitment and longevity when it comes to brand ambassadors, as well as the importance of partnership choice. By working with a passionate fashion designer with an impressive social media following, giving them the space and resources to make their personal mark on the brand, PLT have created something more powerful than either side could achieve in isolation.
The results are clear: multiple looks from her collections have sold out within 24 hours over the years, helped in part by the star herself igniting consumer buzz after showing off her fits on social media.
In 2023, Molly-Mae stepped down from her position as Creative Director at PLT but the coverage and hype around the appointment will have been hugely valuable.
Khaby Lame x Hugo Boss
Khaby Lame became the face of Hugo Boss in 2022. His is a remarkable journey, going from a factory worker to global icon in just a few years through his silent, satirical content that blew up across TikTok and Instagram.
With his cumulative followers already in the hundreds of millions by 2022, he suddenly earned himself a place as the official face of BOSS. It launched with a personal capsule collection, including jacket, hoodie and even a Khaby doll, which was released around the world.
This partnership saw the influencer delivering across the brand’s wider channels, going beyond his home turf as a socials star. He debuted at a launch event in Milan, where he arrived on a scooter flanked by models on BMX bikes – all wearing the Khaby Lame Collection.
Hailing from Italy, Khaby’s entry into the real-world of celebrity created a powerful thread between the physical and the digital. It not only gave his fans a chance to see him in real life, but contributed to his evolution as an influencer. This wasn’t his satire of others’ content anymore – this was pure Khaby Lame.
The event itself was an excellent source of social content to promote the new ambassador partnership. The spectacle, style and Khaby’s personality made a perfect recipe, garnering positive attention across social media and magazines alike.
Read our report, “The Prestige Factor” for more information on how Louis Vuitton and other luxury brands are approaching TikTok and influencer marketing.
Charlie D’Amelio x Dunkin
Although a few years old now, this partnership remains an iconic example of an ambassador partnership with incredible results.
Now one of the most followed people on TikTok, Charli D’Amelio has always been a huge personal fan of Dunkin’ Donuts – to such an extent that she was always posting about the brand before she got big.
A brand ambassador who has an organic, genuine passion for your product is something you can’t manufacture, so it was a no-brainer for Dunkin’ to link up with her and leverage the personal love shown by a TikTok megastar.
The collaboration was a perfect fit for the business at the time, too. Always in competition with Starbucks for dominance over younger audiences, Dunkin’ was looking for ways to outmatch the famous coffee chain and their viral content built on secret menu tips and fake names on cups.
Dunkin’ enacted a multi-layered partnership with D’Amelio, who was 17 at the time. They created ‘the Charli’ drink based on her favorite order, and supported it with a social media competition that saw customers recreating iconic D’Amelio moments to win a chance to meet her.
Dunkin’ Donuts sold hundreds of thousands of ‘Charli’ drinks within days, and saw a staggering 57% increase in app downloads – with a new record for daily users on the day the drink special was launched.
This partnership was a match made in heaven. By engaging a young, superstar ambassador who was already promoting their products on a personal level, Dunkin’ was able to launch a collaboration didn’t just get great results for the products involved, but engaged a whole new audience segment and boosted other critical business objectives like app downloads, with lasting benefits.
Francis Bourgeois x The North Face x Gucci
Francis Bourgeois became a TikTok star during the pandemic lockdown, amassing more than 2 million followers through his infectiously positive trainspotting content. He quickly gained cult status and was snapped up as the face of a stylish new collaboration between North Face and Gucci.
He took the leading role in their flagship ad, which was set around a crew of hip youngsters heading out on a jaunt in the English countryside. They rode the train in the new collection as Francis played the part of eccentric train conductor, punching tickets and announcing stations with great pleasure.
This collaboration points to a growing trend among luxury brands – particularly in fashion and beauty – to engage creators who lead on apps popular among Gen Z. Fast becoming the generation with the largest spending power, it’s a shrewd approach – but one that unlocks a huge range of new creative possibilities.
Francis Bourgeois is moving from strength to strength, maturing as a content creator and a social media personality – as evidenced by his TikTok collaboration with Joe Jonas, which earned over 6 million views. By tapping him as a brand ambassador early, North Face and Gucci can sit back and see their influencer investment return increasingly large dividends.
Snoop Dogg x Solo Stove (a lesson for marketers)
Snoop Dogg’s “giving up smoke” Instagram post was one of the viral events of 2023. It absolutely blew up as audiences worldwide speculated endlessly about what this meant for the world’s most famous marijuana smoker.
The mystery continued for several days until he followed up with another post revealing that he was referring to the ‘smokeless’ Solo Stove firepit.
“I’m giving up smoke,” Snoop said in the post. “I know what you’re thinking. ‘Snoop! Smoke is kind of your whole thing!’ But I’m done with it.”
The ad gained them 60,000 new social media followers in days, as well as more than 30M social media engagements – not to mention getting CNN coverage and being rated at number 18 of its Top 40 Ads of 2023.
But there’s a catch here…
Whilst this was a masterclass in brand awareness, the campaign actually failed to deliver in what the brand was really looking for; sales. So much so, that the CEO of Solo Stove actually ended up resigning soon after.
We wanted to include this in our list as let’s be honest, the ambassador partnership IS iconic – everyone remembers it! – but it’s also a great lesson for marketers. When it comes to your brand ambassador, what are you actually trying to achieve? Is it awareness? Is it engagement? Is it conversions? This will hugely dictate who you choose for your ambassador programmes but often brand teams just go for the bright, shiny idea over what will actually work for their brand.
Chanel x Sofia Richie
Pre-2023, Sofia Richie was mainly known for being the daughter of famous singer, Lionel Richie, and for dating Kourtney Kardashian’s ex, Scott Disick. But in the lead up to her wedding, she performed one of the most successful personal rebrands we’ve ever seen!
Partnering with Chanel, Sofia documented the whole wedding planning process, as well as her wedding dress fitting (Chanel of course), for her own social media channels. It became a true cultural moment with huge amounts of interest both in the media but online amongst Gen Z and millennial audiences.
This was the perfect partnership as it was truly mutually beneficial.
Sofia was the perfect ambassador for Chanel as she allowed them to refresh their image and create cultural relevance amongst a future Gen Z customer base. Working with Chanel also helped Sofia to elevate her personal brand from just a ‘nepo baby’ Instagram influencer and establish herself as a true fashion ‘It-Girl’.
For more on this read our blog, “6 Branding Lessons from the Sofia Richie Wedding“.
Tips for brands looking to team up with brand influencer ambassadors
It’s clear that brand ambassadorships offer huge potential, but they also demand higher levels of investment and planning than your usual influencer partnership. It’s important to get it right. Here’s a few key factors to consider during your search for the perfect ambassador.
The ‘right’ fit doesn’t mean the obvious fit
There needs to be dynamism, energy and a genuine connection between your brand and its ambassador. Audiences will be able to spot a lack of enthusiasm or connection in an instant, and nothing is more of a turn-off.
However, that doesn’t mean you have to select a sports star to represent your sports brand. Or a chef to represent your cookware range. The perfect fit doesn’t have to be obvious, or low-risk – in fact, the opposite is usually true.
Listen carefully to the influencer landscape. Who is a fan of your products? Who brings something fresh and unexpected to your advertising? What partnership will surprise and entertain audiences?
Think long-term
Ambassadors are an evolved form of influencer marketing. Once you’ve made the right choice of ambassador, you’re tying yourself to them because of the change it will make to your brand identity over time.
In order to yield the transformational benefits of an ambassadorship, you need to be consistent, forward-thinking and confident. Switch ambassadors regularly or sideline them after a short run, and you might find the ripples of your partnership fading quickly.
Share the steering wheel
This is advice that we give for any influencer partnership, but it takes on even bigger importance here. Give your ambassador creative freedom, a seat at the table, and a chance to add their seasoning to your cookpot of your brand.
People respond to ambassadorships because some of their favorite people get to work with and work on a brand – personal clothing lines, takeovers, creative direction, exciting crossovers, and more.
Ambassadorships can often be disruptive, a break from the everyday, and represent the merging of the corporate and the human world. Make sure you give your ambassadors the power they need to give your brand the freshness and energy you’re looking for.
Download our Influencer Marketing Guide
Get in touch with Goat if you’d like to explore a creator/influencer ambassador strategy. You can download our latest report for more information on working with an influencer agency.
